Friday, August 24, 2007

Matt Schaub has played two exhibition games as the starting quarterback for the Houston Texans. Not once has he played the "what if" game.

Schaub was Michael Vick's understudy in Atlanta for three seasons before approving a trade to Houston by agreeing to a six-year, $48 million deal in March. Five months later, Falcons fans bemoan losing Schaub.

With Vick having decided Monday to plead guilty to federal dogfighting charges, Schaub would be Atlanta's starting quarterback this season had he stayed. Instead, the Falcons have Joey Harrington, a former No. 3 overall draft choice who is 23-43 in his five-year career, and the Texans have high hopes for Schaub.

"I'm incredibly excited about this opportunity here in Houston and being part of this organization, so that thought [of being the starting quarterback in Atlanta] has not even entered into my mind," Schaub said.

Schaub made only two starts for the Falcons and has only six touchdowns with six interceptions and a 69.2 passer rating in his career.

But the Texans invested their future in Schaub by swapping spots with the Falcons in the first round of this year's draft -- Atlanta selected defensive end Jamaal Anderson with the eighth pick and Houston took defensive tackle Amobi Okoye at No. 10 -- and surrendering two second-round choices.

In so doing, the Texans finally cut ties with David Carr, the No. 1 overall choice in 2002. Houston had picked up the option on Carr's contract after the 2005 season, prompting them to pass on Vince Young, Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler in the 2006 draft.Houston ended up paying Carr $35 million over five years, and in return, Carr went 22-53 as the starter.

By all accounts, Schaub is everything Carr isn't.

Schaub called his new teammates to introduce himself on the day he was traded to the Texans.

Some players complained that they never really knew Carr.

"[Schaub] told me he was excited about the opportunity, and he was ready to get to work," said Texans receiver Andre Johnson, one of the league's best with 311 receptions for 3,953 yards and 17 touchdowns in four seasons. "I was excited, too. When you bring in a new quarterback, it's a new start."

Schaub is the first player to the Methodist Training Center, arriving before 6 a.m. most days. He usually is the last to leave. He also has found time away from the facility to socialize with teammates.

The Texans have applauded Schaub's work ethic, leadership and passion for the game, qualities they rarely, if ever, saw in Carr.

Terence Newman's preseason is over, but Cowboys coach Wade Phillips expects the starting cornerback to be fine for the Sept. 9 regular-season opener against the New York Giants.

Newman has been bothered for the last two weeks by plantar fasciitis in his right foot and did not play last week vs. Denver. Veteran Aaron Glenn will replace Newman in the starting lineup Saturday at Houston.

"It's a little worse than we thought it was," Phillips said.

Newman was originally diagnosed with a bruised right heel, but after attempting to practice Tuesday, he was re-examined and it was determined he has plantar fasciitis. "It is something he needs to stay off of," Phillips said, "so that's what we're going to do."

Newman is one of three regulars expected to miss the last two preseason games, joining receiver Terry Glenn (knee) and linebacker Greg Ellis (Achilles). The injury could also keep Newman from returning punts against the Giants and affect how many cornerbacks the Cowboys will keep on their 53-man roster.

Phillips said backups such as Jacques Reeves, Joey Thomas, Nate Jones and Alan Ball will see more time against the Texans and in the preseason finale against Minnesota.

"It just gives the other guys a chance to play and see who should be on the team, really, and who we could count on playing if we have somebody out, whether it's [Newman] or another corner," Phillips said. "We have some competition. I think it's real close between a lot of guys at cornerback. We can play those other guys against good competition."

1. Secretariat destroys the field at the 1973 Belmont Stakes by an astonishing 31 lengths to win the Triple Crown ... "He is moving like a TREMENDOUS machine!" A performance so dominating spectators were weeping in the stands.

2. Tiger Woods wins the 2000 U.S. Open by a mind-boggling 15 strokes.

3. 1940 NFL championship: Bears 73, Redskins 0. The Bears had 501 yards of offense, intercepted eight passes and officials had to ask Bears coach George Halas to run or pass for the PAT on the team's final two scores because so many balls had been kicked into the stands.

4. Mike Tyson knocks out Michael Spinks, who had never been knocked to the canvas in his career, in 1 minute, 30 seconds.

Texas (Nov. 23): A&M players should be motivated to prove last year was no fluke. I don't think it was by any stretch. Stephen McGee runs wild, Mike Goodson has another big touchdown run, the defense has another solid performance and Kyle Field goes crazy. Result: W.

So far, the Aggies are 10-2. But I think Oklahoma wins the South this season and beats Nebraska in the championship game.

Based on that scenario, A&M would be the top contender for the AT&T Cotton Bowl. Nebraska played there last year and won't want to go back. So the Aggies come to Dallas, and the Huskers go to San Diego.

Give me A&M vs. Georgia in the Cotton Bowl. The Aggies, leery of their last appearance in the Cotton Bowl, win in a solid all-around game. A&M finishes the year 11-2 and goes into 2008 with a preseason top-10 ranking and serious national title hopes.

Now I ask you this, A&M fans. Is that good enough? It's certainly realistic considering this team's talent and its schedule. It's going to be a fun season for sure and one heck of a ride.

Did he really just ask if 11-2 is good enough? There must be some mistake.

Sooner or later, there was going to be a brawl involving David Beckham.

It arrived Thursday night.In an ugly scene just before halftime of a 3-0 Chivas USA victory over the Galaxy, an already heated soccer rivalry between the teams was raised in temperature by more than a few degrees as a punch was thrown, a head butt was delivered and two players were ejected.

Beckham stood and watched it unfold, but it was a crude foul against him that started it all.

Chivas midfielder Jesse Marsch, chasing Beckham in the center of the Home Depot Center field, delivered a roundhouse kick to the England star's midriff. Beckham leaped to his feet and went toe-to-toe and face-to-face with Marsch.

Other players formed a snarling, insult-yelling scrum around the pair. Somewhere in the midst of it, Galaxy midfielder Kevin Harmse threw a punch at Chivas defender Alex Zotinca, who took offense and head butted Harmse.

Both players were red-carded by referee Terry Vaughn and probably will face multi-game suspensions from Major League Soccer. Marsch, whose foul sparked the incident, received a yellow card.

Marsch said afterward that he had apologized to Beckham for the foul but also said he considered it "tactical," in other words a professional foul.

"I got him a little harder than I wanted to," Marsch said.

Beckham, who played the full 90 minutes after playing the entire game for England against Germany in London on Wednesday night and then taking a transatlantic flight Thursday morning, was not made available to the media.

At the final whistle, the unpleasantness between the teams evaporated.

The Galaxy players shook hands with their Chivas counterparts and Beckham even had a smile and a hug for Chivas USA Coach Preki and applauded fans in the announced crowd of 27,000.

"The guys came out ready to play," Preki said.

Chivas USA's victory was only its second in 12 games against the Galaxy over three seasons in league and U.S. Open Cup play. It improved the team's MLS record to 10-6-3 and solidified its already promising playoff hopes.

The Galaxy, meanwhile, fell to 3-9-5 and its chances of making the playoffs hang by an increasingly slender thread.

After months of negotiations, FC Dallas has acquired a Brazilian superstar. Denilson de Oliveras, who played on the 2002 World Cup championship team, signed with FC Dallas on Thursday as the team's designated player.

The 29-year-old midfielder arrived in Dallas on Wednesday and finalized his deal Thursday. A news conference has been scheduled for Monday.

"Adding a player like Denilson will improve us further and give us a boost as we go into the final stretch of the season," FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow said. The terms of the deal were not revealed.

Denilson will start playing as soon as he receives his work visa. By that time, FC Dallas will have to make a roster move to open up one of four senior international spots.

Either Argentinean midfielder Pablo Ricchetti, Canadian defender Adrian Serioux, Brazilian midfielder Marcelo Saragosa or Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz will have to be traded.

FC Dallas has been negotiating with Denilson for the last two months.

He visited Pizza Hut Park last month, but negotiations stalled a couple of weeks ago because of differences in the structure of the contract.

"It is something that took many days, but in the end came out well, as we had planned," Denilson said in a statement. "I'm anxious to get started playing, and to join a team that is in a good position in the league."

FC Dallas (11-7-3) is in second place in the Western Conference, one point behind first-place Houston.

This weekend’s English Footy TV Schedule – nothing special, but Liverpool should have a tough time against Roy Keane's Sunderland who got their butts kicked last week; and United tries to get its first win of the season in Game 4 at home against Tottenham:

Last time I checked, the Aggies have road games at Miami FL, Tech, Mizzou, Nebraska, and OU. They will be quite fortunate if they even win 2 of those 5 games. And to just assume they'll beat Texas again considering they've lost 6 of their last 7 against them is quite a big stretch as well. 8-4 or 7-5 (not including the bowl game) is whole lot more realistic. The real question is, will that be good enough for A&M fans??